Today let’s talk about Youth Theatre Arts Scotland. YTAS isn’t just about “putting on a play”. Read below to find out WHY Sam chose this amazing charity and how YOU can help.

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“Youth Theatre is for everyone; it’s about a community, it’s about being supported by your peer group. You learn skills, not just acting but all the other sides needed for working in TV, film and the theatre industry.

I’d like to instill the belief that if you join a youth theatre, it’s a gateway to greater career prospects. I know if we get young people involved in the sector, it’s going to pay dividends in the future”

Sam Heughan
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Youth Theatre Arts Scotland supports organisations and practitioners who engage over 28,500 young people each year in youth theatre. We promote youth theatre arts and their role in the personal, social, educational and creative development of Scotland’s young people.

The majority of our member youth theatres provide weekly activities for £0-£5/week and also offer financial support. 30% of their participants come from areas of multiple deprivation and 15% are either deaf, hard of hearing, visually or physically impaired or have additional learning requirements.

Sam chose to support YTAS, not only because of the role youth theatre played in his own career, but because he recognises its importance in local communities. He appreciates that it provides an amazing opportunity, not just for budding actors, and future stars, but for any young person looking to further their creativity, ideas, and to develop new skills.

I challenge the Heughligans to double yesterday’s Dram 4 Sam donations and to raise $1,000 for YTAS. Can we do it!?!?

Each year, fans of Sam Heughan (star of Starz television series Outlander) come together to celebrate his birthday on April 30th in a unique and special way. Inspired by the actor’s own charitable endeavors, fans donate the cost of a “dram” (a glass of whisky, wine, or your favorite coffee drink) to one of Sam’s chosen charities. This year, we will continue to support the two charities closest to our hearts: Youth Theatre Arts Scotland and Bloodwise.

The fundraising drive begins at 12:01am eastern time on April 15th and continues until midnight eastern on April 30th. To make a donation, you click the link to the charity you’d like to donate to on the JustGiving website and follow the directions there. Please note that when using your credit/debit card to donate, that this website is in the UK; so, ensure that your card is set up to allow foreign transactions.

Last year we raised $24.077 total for both charities, but this year we know we can do better than that! We love to think big, so we challenge Sam Heughan fans (better known as Heughligans) and Outlander fans to donate $30,000 to charity this year! Let’s show the world how much good can come out of a fandom.

Please follow the links below to donate, but REMEMBER, it begins on April 15th. Any donations made before that date will still go to charity, but won’t be counted towards our $30,000 goal.

Thanks again on behalf of YTAS and Bloodwise for your continued support!!

I must confess that I approached this game with a fair bit of trepidation. Would this combination of two of my favorite things (Outlander and gaming) produce something lovely like dipping strawberries in chocolate or would it be more like trying to read and walk at the same time with lots of tripping and running into things?

Upon opening the box, I thought, ‘At the very least it’s pretty.’ The cards and dice all have images from the tv show, which certainly adds to the atmosphere when playing. Despite the heavy visual tie-in to the show though, you do not need to know anything about Outlander to play and enjoy the game, so feel free to drag your non-Outlander appreciating friends in.

The rules are fairly simple, which is definitely a plus. Everyone seemed to grasp the basics after one complete round. It did take a few rounds to remember everyone’s special power, but there was a simple chart, so that didn’t slow things down much. The turns move pretty quickly as long as no one in the group agonizes too much over their decisions before acting.

As you’d expect with any game with dice, there is a lot of luck involved, but I found the decisions surprisingly more interesting and meaningful than I expected. It has a little bit of a Yahtzee-like feel since you are rolling a bunch of dice (though 6 not 5) to get sets to score points. But there are restrictions on what you can and can’t re-roll and I often found myself trying to decide if I wanted to keep the sure points or re-roll them and hope for higher combos. These decisions gave the game a push-your-luck vibe that was fun in and of itself and seemed an appropriate mirror to Claire’s constant struggles.

So if you enjoy games and have at least one other person you can get to play with you, I’d definitely recommend adding this to your game collection.

Droughtlander is still in full swing, but thankfully, our symptoms are eased with the arrival of Season Two now currently available on DVD and Blu-ray. We’ve seen our members post pictures of their new treasure and express their giddiness.

I don’t have my copy yet…but sooooooon. There have been so many gifs and pictures released to help me want it all the more.

We get to relive Frank’s meltdown after finding out the woman he loves is carrying another man’s child. For him to realize someone else gave her what he could not.

One of my favorite moments with Roger and Claire is this:

That one brief moment where you can see the anguish on Roger’s face. You know that he truly loved and appreciated the Reverend for taking him in as a 5-year old boy and loving him as much as any biological father would. Not many people would take in a child they barely knew and love them unconditionally.

But, at the heart of this story is the love that Claire and Jamie still have for each other. There are good times and there were so many bad times in France and Scotland, and even though they may have been at odds with each other they still loved each other with every fiber of their being.

Season Two was a tough season for Claire and Jamie, but it will shape them into the people they become later in life. Soon, I will have my excited little hands on Season Two to watch and watch and watch some more.